Trolley type collector for bus bar duct systems



1951 H. J. HAMMERLY ET AL 2,536,282

TROLLEY TYPE COLLECTOR FOR BUS BAR DUCT SYSTEMS Fi'led Feb. '24, 1949 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR. fiEEMA/V j fl/IMMERLY y ('EC/A 5. 702mm lrmemw 1951 H. J. HAMMERLY ETAL 2,536,282

TROLLEY TYPE COLLECTOR FOR BUS BAR DUCT SYSTEMS Filed Feb. 24, 1949 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 u 5444-; II/1111101141544.

'INVENTOR. #56444 l MAM x5e By 0504 5. 702m Patented Jan. 2, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENT OFF ICE;

(Chub-48i- This invention relates particularly to abranchpower take-off device.- which can be readily moved from point. to point of a duct without detaching: or removing it from the duct;-

Onev object is to provide aisimpletorm of trolley take-off device which can. be applied to: or net-- moved from the duct at any point along the length of the: duct without. the: necessity of. open-- ing the duct.

Another object is to. provide atrolley type at.

collector which. can; be: used interchangeably with a plug-in type power" take-off device in a ductsystem' of the type shown in an application filedby Herman Jo Ham-merly' on. Jan. 29,. 1949', Sen. No; 73,570.,

Another object is to provide a: well balanced trolley which will run smoothly in the duct..

Another object is toprovide a collector with two pairs of trolley wheels; and expandable contactst,

Another object is: to provide means for simultaneously alining the: trolley wheels andretra'ici; ing some. of the contacts of the collector;

Another object is to preventunintentionalire moval of the collector from the ducts Another object is to provide a trolley that can be polarized soas to avoid the necessity at see tiona-lizing the system.

Fig. l is an end view and partial section show ing, a: duct with its bus bars and. av trolley consetor involving our invention sup orted by the duct; This view also: showsv a suspension clamp for the duct. and a form of) strain relief: for the power take-off,

Fig. 2 is a side view of. the trolley collector, parts being broken away and parts shown in section.

Fig. 3 is a side View of the interior'of: the; plug? take-off of Figs. 1. and. 2 showing the contacts of the plug take-oil,

Fig. 4 is an edge view of the plug contacts of the trolley collectorv showing the insulating housmg in dotted lines and the lateral contacts re treated.

Fig. 51s a view similar to Fig. 4 butshowing the lateral: contacts spread apart;

Fig. 6 is a top plan view oi the'-t1'0lIey'c0l1'eetor with the wheels in running position Fig; 7 is a bottom plan. View of the trolley col l'ector, parts being broken away and parts shown dotted;

Fig. 8 is an enlarged fragmentary view siurwwing the actuating and locking mechanism for the contacts and the supportingrollers or wheels;

Fig. 9 is a cross-sectional view showing the ac tuating and locking: mechanism of Fig. 8,. the section being: taken. on. the plane or. the line 92-4! oi Fig. 8: and also: showing: inldbtt'ed lines the: out line or part at the colleetor body:

Free to is an end view of a duct and collector or: amodifie'diiorni withadepending eye or hook the collector being. shown in position for insertion or' removal from the duct.

isa fragmentary side View showing: an other form of cord or cable clamp and another form: at handle-i The duct;- I t for which this invention is particu larly' adapted is formed ot' sections of sheet metal of suitable lengths such as shown in Figs. 1 and to: and suitable connected The bus-bars i'5 are preferably hollow oi: trapezoidal cross-seclil'QIL and: supported in Efi-sh-aped insulators I6 at intervals along the length of the duct; These bus barsmay' arranged groups of: two, three orf-ourand alinect bars willbe connected by suitable jacks (not shown)". In the formshown in Fig. 1 there are three bus bars I5.

The insulators are secured between the: grooved or: indented portions and I8 of the ductabove a chajnll'lellka portion of." the ductformed by the side walls; i=9, I 9 and the inturned flanges 21?, 2 Thecarriage 24 has seen-red to it an insulating body 22 with: a plug-i11 extension 2'3 which carthe contents such as- 25, 2 and 25; the conetacts 24 21: being guarded in grooves 26 26".

The flanges 20 constitute tracks forth-e wheels 21:, which: are arranged in pairs; each pair rotatably mounted on a shaft 283 at oppositeends of the carriage 2| so that when the" wheels are in alinement the plug can be inserted intothe duct between the flanges and when rotated crosswise the carriage maytravel along: the tracks;

the form; shown, the plug-in device is formed at twoparts hei-d together for instance by one or more scnews or rivets 30 and the con- 212 2 4 and 25 and their" spring supports 3 1 and 32 and their terminals 33, 33 and 3 1, re specti-vely, are mounted in suitable recesses or grooves betweenv the: two parts; The end con tact 25 is adapted to engage the center has bar when the device is inserted into the duct and the side contacts 21, 2-- are normally retracted when not inplace, as shown in Fig; 4', by the spring biasof the arms 3F. Between the arms M, N is mounted a; cam 35- carried by the oscill'atabl'e shaft 36' so-tha-t by turning shaft 36, the" contacts 24- may' be projectedlaterally when: in the duct to engage'ftheilateraf bus bars.

The rotation of the-wheels from' the alinement" relation of Fig. 10 the projection of the side contacts is simultaneously effected by the lever 46 which is connected to the lower end of shaft 36 and has a pin and slot connection 4| with a bar 42 which is slidably guided by lugs 43 on the lower face of the carriage. Each of the wheel shafts 28 has an arm 44 connected to an ofiset 45 on bar 42 so that when the lever 40 is turned the bar 42 moves and rotates the two wheel shafts with the attached wheels.

In order to avoid accidental turning of the lever 46, we provide a spring latch 46 carried by the end of the lever 40 which turns with the lever in the slot 41 in one side of the carriage. A l-ug 48 in the center of this slot normally prevents the lever and catch from turning. In order to turn the lever and attached parts it is only necessary to depress the catch so as to clear the lug.

The top of the carriage is provided with guide rollers 50 which take up lateral pressure by the carriage on the flanges of the duct.

By providing an outer flange 20' at one side of the duct and locating the rollers on one side of the carriage further from the center than the rollers at the other side by an amount approximately equal to the width. of flange 20, it is possible to polarize the carriage so that some of the carriages used in the system must be used to take the load from one polarity and some from the opposite polarity.

The pro ections on top of the carriage serve to prevent the, carriage from tilting and the spring 52 serves to ground the carriage on the duct.

In the form shown in Fig. 2, the cable 55 has three conductors connected to the terminals 33 and 34 and is clamped to a tilting cradle 56 by clamp screws 51. This cradle is hinged at 58 to the carriage so as to avoid undesirable bends in the cable. A hinge-joint 59 may be interposed between the clamp 5'1 as an additional precaution.

In Fig. 1'(), we have shown a simple form of connection to the carriage where a box-like body 60 carries any form of cable connection such as a hook or eye BI, This serves as a handle for moving the carriage along the duct.

. Fig. 11 shows a carriage with a cable clamp 63 secured to it and a simple form of handle or bail 64 for convenience inmoving the carriage from place to place.

It will be understood that changes in details might be made without departing from the principle of the invention.

. We claim:

. 1. A trolley collector having a carriage with an insulating body having exposed contacts mounted in said body and a pair of riding wheels pivoted as a unit at each end of the carriage so that they can be brought into alinement for insertion into a slotted duct and turned to bring the wheels to run on tracks inside the duct, means for bodily turning both pairs of wheels simultaneously and means for latching said turning means.

; 2. A trolley collector having a carriage with an insulating body having contacts mounted in said body and a pair of riding wheels pivoted as a unit at each end of the carriage so that they can be brought into alinement for insertion into a slotted duct and turned to bring the wheels to run on tracks inside the duct, means for protruding said contacts outside said body and means for bodily turning both pairs of wheels simultaneously.

3. A trolley collector for a bus bar duct system comprising a carriage having an insulating body with a spring contact supported within said body and adapted to protrude at one side, a pair of Wheels pivoted as a unit at each end of the carriage and means for bodily turning all of said units to bring the wheels into or out of alinement and for simultaneously retracting or protruding said contact into and away from said body.

4. In a trolley collector, a carriage having a pair of wheels pivoted as a unit at each end, a bar extending longitudinall of the carriage having means of connection with said pivoted units, a lever connected to said bar for bodily turning said units and a spring-pressed latch coacting with said lever and said carriage for preventing accidental movement of said lever.

5. A trolley collector for a bus bar duct system comprising a carriage having an insulating body with a spring contact supported within said body and adapted to protrude at each side, a pair of wheels pivoted as a unit to each end of the carriage and means for turning all of said units to bring the wheels into alinement and for simultaneously retracting said contacts into said body.

6. In a trolley collector, a carriage having a pail of wheels pivoted at each end, a plug carried by said carriage and having spring contacts, a cam for moving said contacts, a bar extending longitudinally of the carriage having means of connection with said pivoted wheels, a lever connected to said bar for turning said wheels and having means for rotating said cam.

7. A trolley collector comprising a carriage hav ing an opening, an insulating body mounted at one face of said carriage and having an extension extending through said opening, spring contact arms having circuit terminals fixedl housed in said body and having contact tips, the contact tip of one arm being adapted to be exposed at one side face of said extension, a cam and means for manually turning said cam for actuating said latter arm, the contact tip of another arm being exposed at the outer end of said extension.

8. A trolley collector for a bus bar duct system comprisinga carriage, wheels at each end of the carriage for supporting the collector on flanges of a duct, an insulating body carried by the carriage having a plug-in extension formed of two parts adapted to be inserted between the flanges of a duct, contact arms housed between the parts of said body and having fixed circuit terminals, one contact arm having a contact tip located at one face of the extension and another contact arm having a contact tip located at the opposite face of the extension and manually operable means engaging said arms for causing the contact tips to be projected from the opposite faces of said extension and to be retracted to housing position.

, 9. A trolley collector for a bus bar duct system comprising a carriage, wheels at each end of the carriage for supporting the collector on flanges of a duct, an insulating body carried by the carriage having a plug-in extension formed of two parts adapted to be inserted between the flanges of a duct, contact arms housed between the parts of said body and having fixed circuit terminals, one contact arm having a contact tip located at one face of the extension and another contact arm having a contact tip located at the opposite face of the extension and manually operable means engaging said arms for causing the con-' tact tips to b projected from the opposite faces of said extension and to be retracted to housing position, and a third contact arm in the extension having a contact tip exposed at the outer end of the extension.

10. A trolley collector for a bus bar duct system comprising a carriage, a pair of wheels at each end and centrally of the carriage for supporting the carriage at four points, a two-piece insulating housing having a base and an extension with openings in the extension, circuit terminals in said base, spring arms disposed between the parts of said extension and having their ends fixed to said terminals, and having their other ends free, contacts on the free ends of said arms adapted to be projected. and retracted through said openings, and means in common for simultaneously bodily moving the wheels as a unit into and out of registry with the slot in a duct and projecting or retracting the contacts so as to permit the wheels and contacts to pass through the slot in a duct and to ride on the bus duct and to contact the bus bars in the duct, respectively.

HERMAN J. HAMMERLY. CECIL BFTURTON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,117,552 Frank et a1 May 17, 1938 2,186,376 Frank et a1 Jan. 9, 1940 2,322,640 Jackson et al June 22, 1943 

